Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary

Wild Turkey recently submitted to TTB a new label for approval; Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary celebrating Jimmy Russells 60 years with the distillery.
A blend of 13-16 year old bourbon...oh, sorry....a very rare blend, bottled at the staggering proof of 91........yawn. Why not 101 for Pete's sake?

Wild Turkey's release of Forgiven, was met with a tepid response (e.g. there wasn't a whole lot of yammering about this bourbon from the community). The 2009 release of American Spirit was actually a very good bourbon...and in my opinion, the last decent limited release. I've got Wild Turkey as early as 1976 to 2012 and I have to say, the early years were quite nice. Maybe it's just me but I think Wild Turkey has lost a step or three along the way as I'm not finding much to be excited about these days coming from Lawrenceburg. I miss the days of Russells Reserve 10 year 101 and both the 8 and 12 year 101 (both sold overseas).....which brings up a good point. Why in hades armpit do they sell the 12 year 101 overseas but not to bourbon drinkers here in the good 'ole US of A? Please Campari....bring back the age stated WT 101!End rant.

10 comments:

Richnimrod said;Yeah! What he said!! The Turkey has seemed to slowly lose it's tail feathers over the last dozen or so years. I too, would like to taste the "better" stuff that isn't sold here at home. WHY IS IT NOT????I wonder what the WTDA will go for? More than 60 bux I bet..... Too Bad.

I suspect the price will be at least double your estimate and maybe upwards of $150. Just a guess. I have a bottle open of WT 8 year 101 export and it's a decent pour. I would love to try the 12 year export and see how that is. If you're familiar with Four Roses history, their KSBW was not sold in the U.S. for about four decades. Not until Kirin came in did that turn around and we now have a great selection of various single barrel and small batch offerings.

I got a single barrel Russell reserve at 110 proof last fall that was quite nice. Label says small batch that seems redundant, but it was close to barrel proof, and that helped.. word here has it at 125, but not sure. My son got one at gift shop last weekend but did not ask price.

Alan - while in KY last week we acquired a bottle of the Diamond Anniv....have to say that I was very underwhelmed. Low proof, watery entry and lousy finish. There was really nothing compelling about the pour.

Not that my opinion counts for much, but I disagree with you Greg. The Diamond is pretty stellar. No it's not a slap in the face overproof behemoth style of whiskey. Closest comparison I can think of is Pappy 15, where it plays around in nuances and subtlety. (I'm not comparing its quality to that of Pappy 15 - just saying its a similar style of whiskey. As opposed to something like an Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, or William Larue Weller) Turkey puts everything in the barrel at 110pf so you're never gonna see stuff climb much above that. It seems like your opinion of Diamond is colored by a prior opinion of the distillery. You are correct that the releases have lost some luster in the last period of time, but I'm sure your gonna see it come back with a vengeance. In talking with some of the guys over there, I gather there's a bit of a fight over what marketing and Campari are trying to do vs. what Wild Turkey wants to do. Marketing seems to like flavors and low proof booze because it sells well at liquor stores. The high end offerings are more a side note to the marketing, while us whiskey kids are left looking for new and interesting things. I do know that while everyone else is running low on stocks for the future years, Turkey is just now getting a barrel selection program underway. After tasting a bunch of barrels out there, their juice is good, really good.

Chad - very fair statements and to be honest, I like it when people disagree with me. Makes for very enjoyable discussions over a shared passion. You seem like a serious enthusiasts and a such, you would agree that as a bottle takes on air, the profile changes and typically for the best. Taste being subjective, there is no right or wrong answer. I will add that there were about 10 of us that tasted through the bottle and about 7 of us came to a similar conclusion that this release was underwhelming and did not reach impress us to the point of pulling the trigger on purchasing. On Friday evening of the trip I had the pleasure of sipping on a 70's vintage Baccarat Decanter WT 8/101. It was exceptional. Another was the Beyond Duplication 12 year from the early 90's....this one was a stunner. I've had many older WT and those early release profiles are some of my favorite. Again, just my opinion, but I just didn't think the value proposition is there considering the quality of pour. I still love Wild Turkey, in fact, as I type this I'm sipping the new RB 112.8 proof. Promising pour but again, it will need time to open up. As for the barrel selection program, our group has the program on our radar and will be looking to establish that relationship. As a side note, we picked from Jim Beam this year and selected three barrels. Historically, I've not been a fan of Beam with the exception of their ODG mashbill which I think is quite good. The three barrels picked were top shelf and I look forward to receiving them. I'll always remain optimistic that Jimmy and Eddie will win out in the end and continue to offer up stellar products but for me, WTDA didn't meet that bar.

Excited to hear the Beam barrels are delicious. Their offerings tend to not be my favorite, perhaps I should give them another look.

As far as the Diamond Collection goes, it's definitely a bit pricey for its quality. However; I've never seen a high correlation between cost and taste in american whiskies so I tend to ignore that when considering flavor quality. (Naturally it plays a much larger role in purchase decisions, and I too wouldn't buy the bottle)

Now that you've clarified your feelings on Turkey I must apologize for making an assumption. I think we're both hopeful that Eddie and Jimmy will continue to bring whiskey to the market that exceeds our expectations. You just seem to have higher expectations because you've been drinking Turkey a lot longer than I.

I do like Mellow Corn. Two years ago while visiting Heaven Hill they rolled out a number of different barrels for us to taste through. Two of those were 10 year Mellow Corn and I have to say, they were very good. Unfortunately, there was no path to purchase the barrel as that label was not in their barrel program.....guess they just wanted to tease us. The other barrels present were pre-fire HH 152 proof barrels that were delicious, two Parkers Heritage wheaters, good as well and a 22 year Stitzel Weller that was way beyond its prime being overly oaked.

As a point of clarification, my comment about Jimmy and Eddie "winning out in the end" is a reference to the battle that sometimes transpires between the makers of whiskey and the bean counters. This is not unique to WT as I've discussed the same issue with other Master Distillers.

About the Dork

I have a passion for whiskey, beer, BBQ and cigars. My focus over the years has been the collection of out of production and limited release bourbons but over the years included travel to KY to select barrels. My interest in world whisk(e)y has increased as well with bunker additions from Scotland, Ireland, India and Japan. I am a IT Program Manager living in Northern VA. Questions? E-mail me at brbnizgud@yahoo.com